Kenya’s horticulture industry continues to face increasing regulatory and certification demands as markets tighten requirements on food safety, sustainability, and traceability. While compliance is critical for market access, exporters are growing frustrated with a system that, in their view, leaves them to carry the entire financial burden alone. This concern was brought into sharp focus during an industry forum, where Andrew Wanyama, an exporter at Interveg EPZ challenged the sector to acknowledge and address the rising cost of compliance.
Mr. Wanyama openly questioned why the issue of cost had been overlooked in sector discussions. “We are here talking about all these 8Ps ( People, Planet, Profits, Pathways, Processes, Pest management, Products and Plant Health), but none of them stands for the cost,” he argued. “Who bears the cost for us to see the results of these frameworks? It’s the exporter.”
From phytosanitary certificates to food safety audits, environmental compliance, and tax obligations, every shipment leaving Nairobi’s airport comes with a hefty bill. Phytosanitary certificates alone, required for each consignment, cost exporters around KSh 6,000 per shipment. On top of that, annual export license renewals demand upwards of KSh 100,000, varying with the size of operations.
This financial pressure is compounded by the proliferation of standards demanded by international markets. “In the early days, people packed produce from the field and sent it straight to JKIA,” Wanyama noted. “Now, every step in compliance is money. We must hire staff, pay for multiple certifications, and meet countless requirements before we can export.”
One such requirement is GlobalG.A.P certification, now considered the bare minimum for market access. For a single farmer, this can cost over KSh 150,000. For exporters working with ten farms, this balloons to KSh 1.5 million, excluding annual audits and renewals. The exporter questioned why Kenya had not, decades ago, laid the foundation for structured, centralized systems that could have made compliance more affordable and efficient for smallholder growers and exporters alike.
He pointed to neighboring countries like Morocco, Egypt, and Rwanda, where governments and private sectors have invested in aggregation centers and centralized backhouses. These facilities allow exporters to lease space, process produce in a compliant environment, and share certification costs , a model Kenya has yet to fully embrace.
“If we had one certified packhouse where all exporters could process and ship their flowers and fresh produce, it would save us millions in duplicate audits and overhead costs,” he suggested.
The exporter also criticized the reactive nature of Kenya’s regulatory interventions. “Our regulators are doing a good job, but they’re often coming in when it’s too late. We are firefighting instead of building long-term solutions.”
Overall, his message was clear: without a shared, cooperative cost structure, Kenyan exporters will continue to face burdensome operational expenses that diminish their profitability and ability to compete in international markets.